> Next, the Byzantine network of private providers steps in to "simplify"
> things for the people - for a hefty fee and monopoly profit of course. The
> obtuseness, complication, and fragmentation of the field creates ample
> opportunities for profiteering - the more complicated, fragmented and
> inefficient, the better.
That description certainly fits the case. The IRS site provides a list of some 30 different providers active in different sets of states (for federal filing) and with differing conditions for free filing. Maybe at some point they'll start offering services to advise which tax software to choose.
They've been hawking e-filing for something like a decade, and it always struck me how it was available only through private tax preparers. They already have pdf forms you can fill out -- some sort of upload and field validation scheme would be a routine IT project. It could be available even to full 1040 filers.
Oh yeah, they also note that e-filed returns get less scrutiny. So pay a middleman or else!
-- Andy